Add UNIX Packages to Your Application

You can add additional software packages to your application within Engine Yard Cloud. Packages are added at the account level. After a package is applied to specific environment, it cannot be removed from that environment. (Although, after a package is dissociated from an application, new environments for that application do not have the package.)

To configure additional software packages for your application

In the dashboard, click the name of the environment you want to modify.

Click the Edit Unix Packages link.

Search for your package.

For example rabbitmq for RabbitMQ.

Results appear in the Available UNIX Packages list.

Click Add ->.

The package appears in the Selected UNIX Packages list.

To install the package on an existing environment:

a. Click Go to dashboard.

b. Click the environment name.

c. Click Apply.

To install the package on new environment:

a. Click Go to dashboard.

b. Create and boot a new environment for the application.

Tip: To search for exact packages and versions, first run eix-sync on one of your instances, then emerge -s "package_name" to search for specific packages and see what versions are available. Alternatively, eix packagename can be used to show more results.

To remove a software package

In the dashboard, click the name of the environment to remove the software package from.

Click the Edit Unix Packages link.

Click x Remove for the package.

This removes the package from the UI but does not remove the package from any currently running environments.

Comments

Is this still applicable? When I click the name of my application from the dashboard, I don't see the icons I used to see for adding gems and Unix packages (gems are in the Gemfile, anyway).

Is it possible, if this is still the correct documentation that you could either post or send me a screenshot showing where I'm supposed to find the "Unix Packages icon"? I don't even see Unix or Package(s) anywhere in the source, let alone on the actual page.

Hi Jason, The docs need to catch up to the UI, which just changed last week. There is an additional step or two now:

Go to your app and click the Edit link. The gems and UNIX icons have moved to this page.

The icons were moved because if you want to add gems to your application, best practice is to use Bundler. This also avoids versioning issues.

It is also uncommon to have an installation that needs custom UNIX packages without custom Chef. If you're writing custom Chef, then best practice is to install the packages in Chef rather than using the link.